Cutting edge

Mixing it up, from a twist on kettle sours to cocktail-inspired beers, is what Robin Barden likes to do as head brewer at Edge Brewing, Barcelona, Spain.

“We are a mixed group of guys – British, American, Ukrainian, Argentinian, Catalan,” he says.

Edge Brewing was established in Barcelona in 2013 by two Americans, Scott Vanover and Alan Sheppard, who joined the craft beer revolution in Europe by buying a brewery in the city’s Poble Nou district.

They are best known for kettle-soured beers combined with fruit, spice and herbs. Barden brought these beers to the Leuven Innovation Beer Festival 2019:

• Triple Virgin Cherries, Belgian Tripel with Cherries, 7.7%: Triple refers not just to the yeast and malt but also to the triple fermentation – involving a batch of sour lacto fermented wort, regular fermentation with a Belgian yeast strain, finishing with champagne yeast towards the end.
• Patxaran Sour, Berliner Weisse with Sloe Berries & Spices, 5.1%: collab with BrewDog (Scotland), and inspired by the classic Spanish liquor, Pataxaran. It includes a dose of sloe berries along with a touch of anis, cinnamon, and coffee.
• Blush, Rosé IPA, 7.2%: collab with Dry & Bitter (Denmark), A dry IPA with Hallertau Blanc hops and infused with hibiscus.
• Pionero, DDH Double IPA, 8.2%: Their first beer in a can.
• Maya, Imperial Pilsner, 8.2%: Collab with To Øl (Denmark), brewed with all English malts and German hops (Mandarina Bavaria). Lagered in tanks for three months.
• Barrica 31, Bourbon BA Imperial Stout, 9.8%: A blend of two Imperial Stouts barrel aged in Heaven Hill, Buffalo Trace, and Jim Beam barrels for 18 months.

Link

Edge Brewing

See the other fantastic Beer Idiots interviews at Leuven Innovation Beer Festival 2019

• André Janssens of Brouwerij Hof ten Dormaal, Belgium
• Pekka Kääriäinen of Bryggeri Helsinki and Lammin Saht, Finland
• Philippe Minne of Brasserie Minne, Belgium.
• Patrik Hellström of Bryggverket brewery, Sweden.
• Casper Vorting and Gitte Holmboe own Bøgedal Brew in Vejle, Denmark.
• Julien Bretheau of À Tue-Tête, Switzerland.
• Iacopo Lenci, brewmaster and owner of Birrificio Brùton, Italy
• Pim Zomerdijk of Brouwerij De Moersleutel, the Netherlands. 
• Paul Herbert of UK-based Kent Brewery.
• David Cohen of Dancing Camel Brewery, Israel.
• Robin Barden of Edge Brewing, Barcelona, Spain.
• Breandán Kearney of Siphon Brewing, Damme, Belgium.
• Stephen McGirr of Wicked Weed Brewing, Asheville, North Carolina, USA.
• Vasyl Mikulin of Varvar Brew, Kyiv, Ukraine has been mixing his experimental beers.
• Botond Prischetzky, brand manager at Monyo Brewing, Budapest, Hungary
• Pia Morgenroth, founder of G’Bräu, Berlin, Germany.